A company in Ontario will pay a $100,000 fine to the Environmental Damages Fund for regulatory violations in relation to the sale of tetrachloroethylene. Dalex Canada Inc. pleaded guilty to selling the chemical to an owner or operator of a dry-cleaning facility who was not in compliance with regulations.
Regulations prohibit any company from selling tetrachloroethylene to dry cleaners unless the dry-cleaning facility is compliant with certain sections of the regulations.
Dalex is a Canadian provider of commercial and industrial laundry equipment and supplies.
Tetrachloroethylene, also known as PERC, is a chemical used in dry cleaning and other industries such as textile mills, chemical production and vapour degreasing, according to Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine. PERC is on the Canadian Environmental Protection Act's List of Toxic Substances.
Earlier this summer, a dry cleaner in Ontario was fined several thousands of dollars for violations of tetrachloroethylene regulations. Peter’s Drive-In Cleaners was fined $10,000; the fines will be directed to the Environmental Damages Fund.
PERC problems are commonly linked to dry cleaning operations. The EPA is currently drilling a series of wells in a neighborhood near the University of Memphis, for example, to determine the amounts of PERC in groundwater beneath a former dry cleaning business - and whether that groundwater is flowing toward a water utility's pumping station less than a mile from the site, the Commercial Appeal wrote earlier this month. The site, former home of Custom Cleaners, has been added to the National Priority List of hazardous sites and is pending cleanup via the federal Superfund program.
